Plans for a prime site in Sheffield city centre are set to go ahead after the council signed an ‘innovative’ agreement with the developers. Council bosses have revealed the authority will buy the block of high quality offices from developers CTP Limited if they want to sell the block.
There is an increasing demand for Grade A offices in the city centre, however no high-quality offices are readily available at the present time in the Central Business District for the first time in a decade. The developers of St Paul’s Place, CTP, are planning to meet this demand by building the third office block on the remaining available site on Norfolk Street. The new building will sit alongside the two developments overlooking the Peace Gardens and complete the Heart of the City development. The 10-storey office block will include restaurants, bars and car parking.
Subject to approval of a European Regional Development Fund grant, construction of the building is likely to start in the New Year and could be completed by 2015. The Norfolk Street site will cover 78,000 square feet and will meet the growing demand for office accommodation from blue chip firms in the legal and financial sectors.
Coun Bryan Lodge, Sheffield City Council’s cabinet member for finance and resources, said: “In the last five years development of new office development has virtually stopped.
“By enabling this development to proceed now, it will help complete the development of St Paul’s Place at the Heart of the City – one of the key projects in the City Centre Master Plan – and help to support business growth in Sheffield.
“These are challenging economic conditions and the council is taking the initiative to make things happen.”
The council is working with the developers to help them to secure the funding required to build. The plan is that once the building is complete, the CTP will sell to a private sector buyer. However the developers admit in the current market securing finance for a speculative development is almost impossible.
The agreement means the council will buy the building, 12 months after it has been built, unless CTP decide to retain ownership or sell to another party at a higher price. The price which the council would pay for the property has been negotiated by external surveyors and would only just cover the cost of the project, plus a small profit. However the developers say they are confident they will sell to a private buyer.
The proposed property is in the area covered by the New Development Deal agreed with the Government, which means the council would retain 100 per cent of the increased business rates.
Coun Lodge added: “We firmly believe this new development will assist several existing businesses that want to move into good quality new offices, and could also attract new businesses into the city.
“The building can accommodate over 700 jobs.”
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